Archive for September 2010

Cyclists from Bolton Clarion, 1897 Manchester & District CTC sent me an email the other day, with a link to their website for information about activities and details of the clubs in their area. CTC members are welcome on their club runs. I've never been on one but I might have seen them. Or were […]

Anyone who fancies raising money for a good cause by cycling on the Isle of Wight was spoilt for choice last weekend. Saturday offered 'Recycle the Island', 15 or 50 miles to raise funds for the Air Ambulance. Sunday offered 'Pedal for Parkinsons', a choice of 8, 16 or 26 miles to raise funds for […]

Castlegregory is a village on the Northern Side of the Dingle Peninsula in Co.Kerry. There is a small peninsula north of it usually referred to as the Magharees (from the islands off it. Magharee = Machairí (same word as Machair in Scots Gaelic) and means plain, prairie etc). At the tip there's a village called […]

At the bottom of my driveway I sit on Ruby Bike's saddle, which is lowered so my left foot comfortably reaches the ground. That foot has pushed me here. That leg has become agile from doing the work of two.

I've been cycling at a "serious" level for about 29 years and at some level, all my life. It has repeatedly struck me in the past four or five years that this country has gone downhill quite a lot for the leisure cyclist, in the last 20 years. The causes are multiple, as are the […]

A couple of weeks ago my front light was accidentally left in the Leo Smit bike shop in Medemblik, Holland, when we'd got Mrs Taylor's touring bike repaired after her crash, so back in the UK, with the darker nights coming on, I needed a new one. Here it is: a Hope Vision 1-LED front […]

I eventually rode out for another of my Century Rides. I've been busy over the last couple of months or so, and couldn't take a whole day out for "just riding my bike". However, the opportunity arose and the weather was going to be good, so off I went. I was tired for some reason […]

In the place I store my bikes I am tight for space. I bought a cheap hoist from LiDL (a false economy as it turned out I couldn't use it in such a small place) and, via Amazon, a Gear Up Off-the-Wall 2-Bike Horizontal Bike Rack after doing some research on the most useful way […]

Cyclists usually quantify their cycling by distance: century rides, 200k Audax, 150 miles per week, and so on. Distance is an easy measure to understand, and many of us use a cycling computer with an odometer and trip mileage to record distance travelled. However, the effort required (or fitness benefit) on a hilly 100-miler is […]

Today saw the start of the Isle of Wight Cycling Festival organised by the IOW Council. This runs until next Sunday and consists of a programme of organised rides aimed mainly at family and leisure cyclists. There are also some more strenuous events including the West Wight Triathlon to be held tomorrow, a plethora of […]

1 – Rotterdam to Hoorn Early September is a good time of year for a short cycle tour in Northern Europe. The evenings are still fairly light, the days not too hot, and always the chance of fine weather at the tail-end of summer. The Continental holiday rush is also over, so accommodation is cheaper […]

There are a number of established coast-to-coast cycle rides, including the most recent "Way of the Roses" which was launched this month. That National Cycle Network route stretches between Morecambe and Bridlington, and covers some of the ground of a ride I attempted to complete in one day with another cyclist at the end of […]

What a day! It was the hardest 40 odd miles I have ever ridden, the most frustrating, the most challenging and the most muscularly tiring ride of my life! Makes doing a 100 mile Audax road ride feel like a walk in the park by comparison. Do not underestimate this ride if ever you fancy […]

Its one of THE bestest places to cycle in my opinion that is, although there is a lot of Britain, that is very much untapped territory for me. Cumbria though, what a wonderful county, I consider myself so very lucky to live so close, full of scenery, and of skies, and of sheer beauty of […]

We had a couple of glorious days last week which were just ideal for a long bike ride. I don't often take the ferry over to Portsmouth as it can be hard to avoid the major roads and urban sprawl en route to pleasant cycling on the the South Downs but I'd had this route […]

Hi everybody, I've been neglecting my duties on here for a while, sorry. We've been busy here over the last couple of months. Our younger daughter got herself married in July, we went on holiday to Brittany in August, and now we're in the throws of major kitchen decorating! I've been able to get out […]

The CTC has a handy guide to help me distinguish between trekkers, tourers, audaxes and other marketing terms. Roadsters are now called "city bikes" and racers are now called "road bikes", in much the same confusing way that crossbars are now called "top tubes". I need to learn this new language so my LBS can […]

I was saddened to learn that Laurent Fignon died from cancer on 31 August. He was fifty, the same age as me. His two victoreis in the Tour de France in 1983 and 84 coincided with the time of my greatest interest in cycle racing. When I gasped my way up hills on my second […]

Its all in a day for us multi taskers I suppose! My friend Tina joined me today, to ride 150km for Audax UK (using the GPS system). Except this time, we were adding a bit more to see if we could both cycle 100 miles. My usual route for this ride is 98 miles. Today, […]